Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix... I had a romantic feeling about how these people became famous.

I am not a black artist, I am an artist.

Every single line means something.

There are about 30 words around you all the time, like 'thread' or 'exit.'

I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was young.

If I'm away from painting for a week, I get bored.

I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist; or I'd draw a big ram's head, really messy. I'd never win painting contests. I remember losing to a guy who did a perfect Spiderman.